Blue Neuroi
by Sammmantha
Summary: A strange new type of Neuroi has appeared in the Adriatic Sea, as well as an unusual new witch. What relation does she have to the new Nueroi, and why does it seem like the Neuroi only attack when she's around. Rated M for violence, language, gore later. OC
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1- The Free-Lancer

The skies over the Adriatic were clear, with few large, puffy white clouds scattered over head. The only sounds to be heard were those of the waves washing up on shore. The warm sun caressed my whole body as I laid out on the beach, using my clothes as a pillow.

I was living on a small, remote island I stumbled across and turned into my own oasis. Nobody knows where I'm at and the island looks like nothing more than a small sand dune with a few trees and minor rock formation to anyone flying overhead. Thanks to my elusiveness I've able to go off grid and stay that way. And thanks to a poorly guarded military outpost, I've been able to stock up with a long-range radio, signal jammer and a radar, as well as a few munitions and dietary supplements.

There was something buzzing at the back of my mind at the moment though, trying to make itself known. I tried to block it out, focusing on listening to waves as I relaxed on the beach, but it just wouldn't cease.

My eyes snapped open and I sat straight up, realization striking hard. I stood up and grabbed my clothes, then sprinted to the cave in the rock formation that was hidden by the trees.

The ping of the radar was echoing off the cave walls as I sprinted up to my set up, quickly pulling up my panties and tossing the rest of my clothes aside. I slammed my hand down on a button, starting up the jammer, hoping against hope I wasn't too late to hide my base's location.

I looked at the radar to see what had triggered my alarms and saw a single, large bogey to the Northwest. It was twenty minutes out but its flight path was too close for comfort.

'A Nueroi? Whys it this far outside its flight range?' I thought as I watched the radar.

I began to put on my combat gear to prepare to intercept. If a neuroi were to fly over my base, then the military would investigate its path and I'd rather keep my base secret.

All my battle clothes were black as I only ever flew during night missions. I wear black tights, a black turtle neck, a light armor black Kevlar vest, and black gloves and glare resistant tinted goggles. The only things that aren't black are my skin, ears and tail. My contract is with a Siberian Husky so my ears and tail are a dark gray with white fur on the underside, and my skin is lightly tanned.

The radio came to life as soon as I finished getting dressed. _"Sanya! What are you picking up on the enemy?"_ a voice called out. My jammer scrambles my outgoing signals but doesn't affect any incoming signals so I can keep track of pursuers.

A moment later a very tired sounding voice came through my speakers. _"I'm picking up a single Nueroi, Major."_ I cringed. A witch who can pick up electrical, biological signals, my jammer wouldn't help me too much if she focused on my direction.

" _Miyafuji! You and Lynette have the vanguard, nothing gets past, got it?"_ the Major didn't wait for a response and kept issuing out orders. _"Barkhorn! Hartman! You two are on point! Everybody else is support. Let's make this quick and clean!"_

Numerous voices gave out a confirmation to her orders. I was able to count six different voices which meant that I had a team of eight witches in the area if you added in the Major and the tired sounding voice that different answer to the Major's orders.

" _Um, Major?"_ that voice, they called her Sanya, said.

" _What is it, Sanya?"_

I held my breath as my chest constricted in anticipation. Sanya answered, _"I'm picking up an unknown signal between us and the Nueroi, but it's hard to pick up. Doesn't seem hostile."_

" _Nueroi first. We'll investigate if we get the chance,"_ the Major said. I finally let out my breath. I still had a chance to escape, but there was no chance I'd be able to stay at my base since she picked up on my signal.

Fully dressed now, I ran for my striker unit and activated my powers. It was painted a dark purple color to blend in with the night sky, and its engine ran completely silent and left no vectors behind me. The ultimate striker used for stealth missions. Though it took a toll on my magical energy, I was able to remain completely undetectable to all of forms of detection, even to witch like Sanya.

I strapped on my ammo packs and spare gear, then slung my silenced sniper rifle over my back, that was my second weapon. My primary weapon is a custom black AK-47 with a welded on silencer and a 150 round barrel hopper attachment to allow for more fire power and less reloading. I had five fully loaded hoppers clipped to my waist belt and one loaded, giving me 900 rounds total, plus another 90 for my sniper rifle. The only other piece of gear I had besides my goggles was my earpiece, which thanks to my magic would not transmit my location when in use.

I took off and flew straight up after I left my cave, heading straight for cloud cover. Since my gear is colored for cloud cover, I'm still visible to the naked eye, but I'm trained well enough to stay unseen if I use my surroundings right.

The Nueroi I saw was coming from the Northwest and Sanya said I was between them and the Nueroi, so they were flying from the Southeast. That meant my best escape route would be to fly due West then fly North in the direction the Nueroi was coming from to dissuade anyone from following.

But as I was flying towards the eastern shore of Romagna, a different plan sprung up in my mind. I did some quick math and estimated the meeting point between the Witches and the Nueroi and flew in that direction. They wouldn't be able to detect me and as long as I stayed in the clouds I'd remain unseen, so why not see what I was up against. I haven't seen any combat for nearly ten months now, may as well take it in so as not to get rusty.

I reached my estimated location and flew into a particularly large cumulus cloud. I was just invisible enough to not be noticed by the witches, and considering the leading conclusion was that the Nueroi saw through the use of radar, I could watch the battle uninvolved.

I looked Southeast and could see a glimmer in the distance marking the Witches approaching in three separate V-formations, shaped to form one large V. I could hear them making quick battle plans on the fly and was able to deduce a few identities; Major Sakamoto, Miyafuji, Lynette and Sanya. Everyone else was still in question.

Once their location was established it wouldn't be too hard to find the Neuroi and figure out what they were up against.

I turned to face the what was coming and audibly gasped, shocking myself with my own reaction.

The reason the Neuroi seemed so big on radar was not because it was big in size, but instead was because it was a cluster of medium sized Neuroi flying close enough together to confuse the radar into thinking it was one large Neuroi. And just as that realization hit me, the Neuroi must have noticed the Witches because it split and charged straight towards their formation.

" _Stay sharp, girls! Multiple contacts confirmed, nobody go out of range. Cover everyone's backs. Go!"_ the Major's voice was so clear, so calm, as if this change in the enemy's tactics wasn't so unprecedented and that she remained in complete control of the battlefield.

The first shot came from an anti-armor rifle round fired from the back of the formation. The round was true and struck one of the charging Neuroi, causing it to explode into a firework of crystal fragments. A quick count told me that the numbers were now even at nine a piece.

And with that shot the battle went full blown. Each witch started to chase a Neuroi or two, the exception being two witches who stayed back to cover the others, who I figured to be Lynette and Miyafuji. Nobody scored any more meaningful hits and plenty of blue shield runes lit up the sky as the witches were getting used to the Neuroi's battle tactics.

One Neuroi charged straight at Major Sakamoto, who was using a katana that glowed blue with magical energy, and she split it clean in half. But a second Neuroi charged, forcing her back. As she retreated, Miyafuji charged to cover. I was amazed by the size of the shield she was able to generate to completely deter the Neuroi, at least six times larger than anyone else's shield. And as the Neuroi attempted to retreat, it got pierced by Lynette's rifle, completely obliteration the Neuroi.

" _Dammit! I can't find the core anywhere!"_ the Major cursed. I looked back towards where the main battle just in time to see one girl destroy a Neuroi using electricity, while five other Neuroi continued to fly around the battle, keeping the witches occupied.

If none of them contained the core, then where was it?

" _Just five left, Major! Are you sure it's not here?"_ a new voice called out. I watched as two more Neuroi were destroyed, leaving the last three heavily outnumbered.

" _I don't see it anywhere!"_ the Major yelled out. Her voice made it sound as though she was becoming frustrated. _"Eila! Sanya! Break off towards the unknown signal! We'll hold them off here and catch up!"_

It was pointless. They wouldn't find anything of value there, I took everything with me and destroyed what I couldn't carry, leaving nothing that would prove that I was there. Major Sakamoto was splitting her forces for no positive reason.

And they wouldn't find the Neuroi core there either because one broke off from the rest at the beginning of the battle and was flying around the tracking range to get behind the witches, using the clouds as cover. I saw it happen as all the others were blinded to it by the confusion.

I watched it occasionally during the battle and didn't see its importance until the Major said she couldn't find the core. The Neuroi were keeping it safe by using it as a passive attacker rather than keeping it in the main battle. It was a tactic I didn't expect the Neuroi would ever employ.

I watched the Neuroi swoop down into a line that would allow it to do some serious damage. I sighed as I switched weapons from my AK to my sniper rifle.

" _Last one! I got this!"_ I heard in my ear as I pulled the scope up to my eye, stock held against my shoulder.

" _WOO-OW! Nice shot, Trudy!"_ I set my sights on the Neuroi, then applied to lead the Neuroi and account for wind variance.

" _Any word on the core, Major?"_ Clicked off the safety.

" _Hey! What's that?"_ Inhale.

" _Major! Look out!"_

The Neuroi had gotten into range without any of them noticing and had had a beam charging up on the nose of its plane shape. It was just milliseconds away from firing a kill shot right at the Major. But before that could happen, a single armor-piercing round tore through the nose, splitting the core clean in half as it exited the rear of the Neuroi. A second later, the Neuroi exploded into crystal fragments with a metallic pang.

Silence abound as I slung my sniper back over my shoulder, preferring to have my AK available. Then my earpiece nearly exploded with how many voices tried to shout over the others to be heard.

" _What just happened?" "Where did that come from?" "Who shot that?" "Thank god the Majors okay!"_

Slowly, one by one, they began to turn towards me as the cloud I was using for cover drifted away, leaving me, dressed completely in black, exposed against a pure blue sky. Nobody moved. Nobody said anything. They just stared at me, and I at them.

The Major approached, katana still drawn in a defensive but ready position. She stopped roughly twenty yards away from me, the other witches filing in behind her.

"I'm Major Sakamoto Mio of the 501st Airborne, also known as the 'Strike Witches'," she said while making a show of sheathing her katana. She kept the eye not covered by an eyepatch on me the whole time. "Who are you and why are you in possession of a striker with no markings on it?"

"Yeah. Yeah. I've heard of you guys before," I pulled my goggles up to rest on my forehead and reveal my face, matching her stare unflinchingly. I could tell she wasn't used to people being able to do that. "My name is Samantha Bryant, formerly of USLMC."

"Formerly? What do you mean formerly? And since when did we have witches in the Marine Corps?" the big breasted auburn haired girl with bunny ears and a tail to match blasted.

The major fixed her with a stare, shutting her up immediately. She then brought her stare back to me, with a smirk on her face, as if expecting to intimidate me. "If you're no longer with them, then who are you with now?"

I let a smirk reach my lips, much to her dismay. "Nobody. I'm AWOL."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2- The Prisoner

Commander Mina Wilke sat at her desk in her office. The red head was going over numerous enemy reports and battle plans, but her mind wasn't in the reports. Almost everybody had been to her office hoping to find out any news on the prisoner. And frankly, she was getting quite annoyed by all the distractions.

A knock at the door grabbed her attention.

"Great. Another nosy witch wanting to get their two-cents," she muttered to herself, then rose her voice. "Come in!"

Mina regretted her frustration when she saw who it was coming to talk to her. In walked her best military leader and asset, as well as her best and most trusted friend, Major Sakamoto Mio of the Fuso Empire.

"Mio!? Why are you here?" Mina asked, truly surprised.

"You know why I'm here, Mina," Sakamoto said as she approached one of the windows overlooking the runway. It was another clear sky; she'd have to get all the others out for some training flights so as not to waste the good weather.

Mina leant back in her chair as she too looked out the window. "I see."

"I don't know what we should do with her. We can't keep her in custody forever you know," Sakamoto said, turning to face Mina.

"We can't do anything until she gives us more info or until someone from the USLMC returns our call," Mina sighed.

"And that's not likely to happen anytime soon…," Mio groaned. The United States of Liberion Marine Corps were all but completely decimated during the early stages of the war. They suffered the worst losses because of a lack of knowledge on the enemy and the overzealous attitude of the Liberion government wanting to show the world they were a world power. Both of those factored into major losses to their previously mighty military power.

Mio pressed her temples. "Did you at least get anything from her file?"

Mina pulled the file from a drawer in her desk and held it open. "Master Sergeant Samantha O. Bryant. Stealth mission marksman specialist. Two Silver Stars and two Purple Hearts awarded. Current status: AWOL."

"Well we can always send her back for a court martial," Mio offered.

"But we both know that nothing will come of that. Nearly 70% of troops worldwide have abandoned their post and the higher ups are past making examples of people," Mina was truly tired of thinking about this.

But Mio wasn't. She was finally getting a chance to voice her opinion on the matter. "What are our other choices?"

"Well, we can either let her go…," Mina trailed off and the stern expression on Mio's face told her what she thought of that choice. So she continued, "Or, we can re- "

"OH NO! We cannot take on a new witch, especially one with a history of going AWOL! It's already hard enough to just keep Miyafuji in line!"

"I seem to remember someone having to convince me to allow Miyafuji to join us even though she was an untrained civilian," Mina countered knowing full well that would slow Mio.

But Mio didn't even hesitate. "She's a witch unimaginable magical potential and prominent healing powers. She is a priceless asset and a great team member. You know that."

"I agree with you on all points but Miyafuji is not the argument here," Mina said evenly, eyes closed and arms crossed over her chest. "The times have changed and the enemy is much more dangerous now. When Miyafuji first arrived, the Neuroi were predictable in their capabilities. But now we can't even tell what to expect when we go to battle."

Sakamoto looked thoughtfully out the window as she replayed the battle in her head. "They did throw the radar with that formation. And even then they were only acting as a decoy for the real attack."

"And if she wasn't there to see that you would've been shot down and we can't afford to lose you. _I can't afford to lose you, Mio,_ " Mina said without raising her head, a slight blush forming on her cheeks.

Sakamoto turned to face her. She rested a hand on Mina's shoulder. "Mina, nothing's going to happen to me. Trust me," she stopped and sucked in a deep breath. Mina looked up and their eyes locked. "If taking her in is a good plan in your opinion, I'm behind you. 100%."

"Damn! This holding cell is way better than even the General's office in the Marines," I sighed aloud as I laid on the bed. I had my hands folded behind my head, eyes closed in relaxation.

I was escorted back to their base after the battle and thrown in here. I really could've run whenever I felt, but I was tired of running and didn't have anywhere to go at mind. Besides, I'd rather be taken prisoner by fellow witches than some random military regiment somewhere in the world.

Plus, that Miyafuji girl from Fuso brought me some real food. I haven't had anything good or real to eat in months, MREs being the only thing I could pilfer to eat. And really, it's not like I was eating anything good while I was stateside anyways. This right here is a pretty good setup.

I was beginning to fall back to sleep when there was a knock at the door. It opened without waiting for a response. The pretty redhead who ordered me into isolation entered first, followed by Sakamoto and another girl I had seen at the battle.

She stopped right in front of the bed, the other two standing "at ease" behind her, neither one looking particularly relaxed. "Master Sergeant Samantha Bryant. I apologize for your hasty confinement, but we had to decide what our next steps were after your confession."

"Yeah, no complaints," I yawned and waved it off without sitting up.

She hesitated for a moment, "Be that as it may, you are AWOL and have a court martial pending against you."

"Hmph, not the first time," I grunted. I could tell my attitude was wearing on all three of them without even opening my eyes.

"As it is now, we have two choices. The first is to send you back to Liberia so that they may do whatever it is they wish to do with you," She paused, allowing for that to sink in.

"Do whatever you think best," I said before she could begin again.

"Yes. That is what we think as well. And that is why we have come to this decision and therefore officially extend you an invitation to join the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, The Strike Witches," She was beaming proudly as she said that, as if it were the dream of everyone in the world to join her regiment and only an extremely select few can do.

"No offense, Ma'am, but I don't do well in teams. And besides, I don't even know your name," I said, intentionally poking a hole in her strategy. Every high ranking officer I've ever come across so far has purposely avoided giving out their names, instead using their rank to scare people to do their dirty work. And it's worked every time.

Except for once.

"Oh! Sorry, truly my apologies. Things have been fast and hectic and I haven't had the chance to properly introduce myself. I am Lieutenant Colonel Mina Dietlinde Wilke of Karlsland," she said, sticking out her hand. I shook it once simply to get her to drop it back to her side. She then gestured to the women besides her. "This is Major Sakamoto Mio of the Fuso Empire and this is Captain Gertrud Barkhorn, also of Karlsland."

Both of them simply nodded as Mina said their names. I swung my legs off the edge of the bed and sat up, opening my eyes up finally and looking right at all three of them. "So then, Lieutenant Colonel, even knowing a little of my background, you still want me to join your little 'Band of Legendary Witches'. Why is that?" My tone was sharp.

"You have a very desirable skill set that we weren't even aware witches were being trained in. We believe that if you join our ranks we will be able to turn the momentum of this war against the Neuroi and finally expel them from our world," Major Sakamoto answered without hesitation.

I snorted and fell backwards onto the bed again. "So you want me to join _your_ war. Jumping sides again. You'll have to do better than that," I said. But internally is kicking the shit out of myself, hoping against hope they didn't catch my slip up.

"I was there at the battle yesterday," Barkhorn spoke up this time. She had the tone of a person thought every rule of the military had to be followed to the letter, no room for interpretation. "Nobody was aware that that last Neuroi had slipped detection and even more nobody was aware you were even present, let alone existed, not even the Neuroi knew. You could have let the Neuroi shoot down Major Sakamoto and disappeared without even leaving a trace of your presence. But you didn't. Now I don't know what you mean by, 'jumping sides', but your actions tell me you have a sense loyalty to humanity and some trace of hatred for the Neuroi. Everybody here at the base shares those same feelings and have love to have the chance to fight alongside you."

"Hmph. Hate the Neuroi," I said aloud, trying it out on my tongue. "Appealing to my loyalties as well. Not sure how effective that is, though, considering I've 'deserted my fellow marines.'"

"We're sure you had your reasons," her tone was even, but her face was starting to show signs of annoyance. "So flattery doesn't work, good to know. What we do know though is that you saved one of our most important witches and we thanked you by taking you prisoner and threatening you with sending you home with a bow to be court martialed and dishonorably discharged, likely to spend years in prison. That's not exactly noble of us. So instead we'd prefer to thank you by giving you a chance to live and fight here with us, with your own freedom. Here, with grace and integrity rather than having the labels of traitor and coward planted on you by the Marines."

I stared at the three of them. Then I felt my lips turn up into a smile. "Now that, ladies, is how you make a pitch."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3- The Ringer

"Winner! Samantha!" Sakamoto called as I crossed the finish line three steps ahead of anyone else. I stopped and turned to walk back to everyone else, panting and bent over by the finish line. They all stared at me as I breathed normally. Cardiovascular training isn't that hard.

"Whaaaa?! No fair! She's cheating…. Somehow," the auburn haired girl complained. I had learned her name was Shirley. It was obvious she wasn't used to losing races as third place was several paces behind her at the finish.

"She served as a scout and counter sniper in the Marines. They train rigorously in stealth and speed, a major part of that is elite conditioning. It's no surprise that even you can't beat her in a race, Shirley," Sakamoto explained.

She grumbled under her breath, probably mocking what Sakamoto had just said, as she stared daggers at me. Then suddenly she exclaimed, "I'd take her out if I had my striker unit on!" Some of the other girls perked up at the challenge. I simply stood there and examined my nails.

One of them was chipped.

"Oh! A race! Yay! Go Shirley!" A small (very small) girl cheered. Her name is Francesca Lucchini.

Sakamoto looked at me. "Are you up to race her, Samantha?"

I sighed and shrugged. "Yeah, whatever."

Fifteen minutes later had us all in the sky in our striker units. Mine was completely silent as I floated next to Shirley with Sakamoto next to us, Shirley's engine was making all kinds of noise that'd get everybody killed in the kind of missions I was used to taking. Someone had suggested that the race should be held while we were both holding our weapons, so she had her Browning in her hands and I had my AK-47 in mine and my sniper over my back.

"First one around that sea pillar and back wins," Sakamoto explained. She nodded to Francesca to take up position as the starter and then moved to hover next to Mina, who surprisingly to me, had come out of her office to watch the race.

Francesca put an arm up in the air. "Ready?! GO!" She exclaimed and dropped her arm.

Once her arm dropped Shirley exploded out to an early lead while I more or less casually took off from the start. I kept a decent gap between us, slowly gaining on her, but not enough for her to notice right away with the number of times she looked back to check her lead. She didn't realize she was just slowing herself down.

When we got to the pillar I went to make my move. The reason I was letting her take a larger lead was because she would have to take a larger turn to complete the 180 degree turn while I could make at a much more direct line. She still completed it before I did but I made up a huge chunk of ground on her and she couldn't even hear me, which I compounded my elusiveness by flying high above her. Every time she looked back, she was looking down and back, she wouldn't see me up above.

I watched for the next time she looked back and noticed the confused look when she didn't see me, which quickly changed to an arrogant sneer. I took advantage of her overconfidence and accelerated right over her head and directly in front of her.

I could hear her swearing once she turned back up to see my butt flying away from her faster than she could accelerate and flew straight towards the finish. I pulled up right at the finish line, no wasted movement. Everyone looked shocked at how fast I had flown and how handily I beat their fastest witch. That is except for Sakamoto, Mina, Barkhorn and Shirley. The first three I expected as the leaders of the group. Shirley just looked pissed.

"Goddammit! How are you so fast?!" She screamed at me as she grabbed the lapels of my black uniform coat.

"I believe I already explained to you what kind of training she's been through, Shirley. Although," Sakamoto paused as she looked directly at me, and I knocked Shirley's hands of my coat. She didn't fight, instead making a semi-apologetic gesture and moved slightly away. Sakamoto continued, "You are much faster than the usual scout witch I've happened to witness flight training of. It shouldn't have been that easy to beat Shirley as she's just as fast as even the faster scouts when it comes to straight sprints like that race."

I shrugged and stopped biting at the chipped nail on my right hand. "I was always having to move really fast. It's become more or less of a habit for me."

Everyone nodded at that like it was some kind of profound thought. Nobody stopped to think about it, or anything else it could've meant.

Even Shirley stopped staring at me like I was a leper. "Oh, whatever. If I'm gonna get beat, at least I got beat by a fellow Liberian. But don't get too cocky, one of these days I'll take you down. Count on it," She said with a laugh and patted me on the shoulder.

I put on a fake smile as everyone crowded around me to congratulate me on my victory and properly welcome me to the Strike Witches.

Sakamoto broke up the huddle and ordered for extra flight training, seeing as we were all already flying. Everyone groaned as we began the usual training exercises. But for me it was a good thing. I was out of training after all and it gave me a chance to see what everyone else could do in orchestrated formations. And besides, I was a scout after all. We got to fly solo and out ahead of everyone else so I just had to fly out ahead and come back pretending to be tailed while they all reacted to my flight path.

After another few hours of training we returned to base. Most of the other witches were clearly exhausted, very low on magical energy. But not me. This was nothing. I've spent as many as twenty-one hours in flight training before, and that was pretty typical. Plus, today I didn't even have to use my stealth magic so I was even draining a quarter of my magical energy.

I docked my striker and put up my sniper rifle, but held onto my AK. Mina wasn't too keen to allow me to carry my rifle with me, but I don't go anywhere without it if I could help it. So in the end we compromised and I carried it unloaded and safety on, only one hopper in an ammo pouch on my waste.

"Hey, Samantha! Wait up!" the Miyafuji girl called out as I was about to walk out of the hangar. I turned to see her come running up to me, Lynette right behind her. Once she was caught up, she took a few breaths, then said, "Me and Lyne are going to the bath. You wanna go with us?"

"Yes. A nice, hot bath is very relaxing after a long day of training," Lynette chimed in.

"Bath? I'm more into taking showers," I said and started to turn to leave.

"Oh! We have those too! Come on!" Miyafuji cheered as she hooked her arm around mine and began to lead me down the hall, completely unable to take a hint. Lynette hooked my other arm, completely leaving me with no choice but to follow.

Lynette suddenly had a serious expression on her face as she looked to me. "Hey, Samantha, do you always go by that?" She asked politely.

"Sammi usually," I muttered as I tried to find an escape, wishing I had my arms back.

"You can call me Yoshika," Miyafuji volunteered. "And you can call her Lyne," She added, which Lyne nodded confirmation.

"Okay," I replied.

"Anyways, Sammi, why do you always carry your rifle around with you?" Yoshika asked.

The familiar weight of my most trusted weapon settled on my back, a constant reminder that it was with me. I smirked a little as I said, "I'm always on the defensive."

"That doesn't sound too healthy, Sammi! You should learn to relax," Lyne said, her voice full of concern.

I just looked at her wide, unassuming eyes. I sighed. "I'll take that under advisement."

All of a sudden they pulled me through a curtained door and up to a shelf stacked with wicker baskets. They quickly stripped off their clothes and put them in the baskets and wrapped towels around themselves. I couldn't help but notice that Yoshika stared rather openly, and with a bit of jealously, at Lyne's rather impressive chest.

"Alright then, I guess we'll see you at dinner then, Sammi!" Lyne said with a smile and wave as she and Yoshika entered the room for the baths.

I stripped off my own clothes once I was alone, and placed them in a basket separate from all the others on the shelf. I really didn't want to separate from my rifle, so I pulled a condom out of my pocket and wrapped it over the barrel, then carried it with me into the shower room, through the door next to the one Lyne and Yoshika went through.

The shower room wasn't actually really a room at all. It was open air and the shower heads were all placed on solid brick walls that ran the length out to a cliff, a stone railing serving to stop anyone from jumping off. There was a drain in the middle of the floor, which slanted down to draw all the runoff to gather there.

I chose the shower head nearest to me and placed my towel on the bar to the side between the two shower heads. I placed my rifle next to it, on the dryer side. I twisted the nob and lukewarm water began to rain down on my dark brown, almost black, hair. I didn't really feel like I needed a shower, so I simply stayed under the spray and let it run over my skin.

After a few minutes, I turned off the water and toweled off. Once dry I wrapped the towel around myself and slung my rifle over my shoulder.

As I was walking towards the exit, the curtain was pulled open to reveal Sakamoto. She had stopped just in time to avoid crashing with me.

"Oh? Samantha!" She exclaimed, surprise in her voice. "I thought I was the only one used the showers. Everyone else is just so enamored with the baths, and I don't blame them."

"Baths aren't really my style," I said as I stepped to the side to allow her to enter.

I was about to walk through, but she spoke up and stopped me from leaving. "Oh well. The bath really is beautiful. And relaxing. But I guess it's lucky that it's just the two of us who use the showers and we got all this space," She laughed, and I grunted an agreement. I heard her sigh. "Well, I'll see you at dinner then."

"Yeah, see ya," I said and left the showers to my basket. I got dressed quickly and left, the sounds of Yoshika and Lyne messing around in the baths following me out.

I wasn't exactly sure of where to go or what to do, but I did know that I wanted to find a place to be alone, so I just decided to wander around the halls.

After wandering around for a while, I happened upon a door that was cracked open that lead to one of the side towers that I had always assumed to be abandoned space. There were no lights on as far as I could see and all the furniture in the room I entered was covered by white sheets. There was a layer of dust on every surface, and quite a bit of it floating in the air as well. It seemed as good a place as any to go to to disappear for a while.

As I slowly strolled through the halls, looking at the paintings on the walls, I picked up on a strange noise coming from deeper within the tower. Instinctively, I dropped into a crouch and slammed the hopper onto my AK, leaving the safety on for now. I backed to wall and could see a corner up ahead. As quickly as I could I ran to the corner, stealth magic working, and stopped. I controlled my breathing to be as slow as possible, so that I completely blended into the environment.

The noise that I had picked up on had begun to distinguish itself and I was able to recognize it as a voice. A man's voice. But it was still too quiet for to make out what he was saying.

Before I could move to get closer and be able to make out what he was saying, footsteps began to approach me from behind. I turned with the barrel pointed in that direction, aimed directly at the chest of a girl with sandy blonde hair with her hands raised, Eila. I lowered the barrel and she let her hands down. I made a quick motion to crouch next to me, which she did without question.

"What are you doing here?" I asked so she could hear me but not so my voice would carry.

"Sanya-" She began to say normally but I turned my head like a bullet and patted the air down to tell her to shut it and talk quietly. She understood and corrected herself in a whisper. "Sanya was picking up on some strange broadcasts in this direction so I came to investigate. Is it you?"

I looked at her like she was an idiot. What part of my behavior looks like I'm broadcasting anything to anyone right now? But instead of saying that, I pointed to my ear and hooked a thumb back down the hall, which she seemed to understand seeing as how she nodded.

I got up and started to round the corner, turning back to gesture for her to follow and keep it quiet. But I was kind of concerned since I could no longer hear the voice. I slid my goggles down over my eyes and pressed a button on the side to activate the night vision. There's a small motion radar in the bottom of my vision and the only person showing up was Eila right behind me.

There were only three rooms in the hall in the direction I heard the voice coming from so it was quick to check them all. The first two rooms were unlocked doors and so full of random crap the rooms were basically rendered soundproof if anyone was even able to get into them and hold a conversation with someone else.

But the third door was locked. I slid open a small port on the stock of my rifle and pulled out a lock pick I kept in there. After fiddling around with the lock for a few seconds I got the door unlocked and quickly replaced the lock pick. I gave Eila the rifle, reluctantly, and pulled a ten-inch stainless steel blade out of by boot. I had seen her shooting and she was one of the more accurate shooters so I had a medium amount of comfort of her backing me up.

I got ready with my hand on the doorknob and held up three fingers. Eila nodded and placed a hand to my back. As soon as I felt her double tap, I started to count down. After the last finger went down, I twisted the knob and threw the door open, in case whoever was in here was hiding by the wall where the door opened.

This room was completely empty, save for a single table directly in the middle of the room. Whoever it was that was in here clearly had left already, and left nothing to signify his identity.

"Clear," I grumbled dismayed and pushed my goggles up to my forehead, flicking the off switch in the process. Eila waited until I put my knife back in my boot before handing back my rifle and I detached the hopper and released the round Eila cocked in the chamber, replacing it in the hopper before placing it in my ammo belt. Once done, my rifle went back over my shoulder.

"Okay," Eila said to the air as she turned to take in the whole room again, then turned back to face me. "Sanya said the broadcasts stopped once I got up here as I was in communication with her the whole time. It appears whoever it was has gotten away. For now, anyways."

I noticed something I overlooked before and moved to the conspicuous window. "Yeah," I muttered as I ran my hand along the bottom by the frame. I see anything suspicious outside the window, but I did notice a lack of dust of the sill. I turned back to Eila. "Don't tell anyone about what happened here, not yet anyways. Make sure Sanya knows."

"Why?" Eila snapped. "What good does it do to keep everyone in the dark if we've been infiltrated. We could all be in danger."

'Doubtful,' I thought to myself as I took in her glare. "He knows that we know about him being here but he also knows that he still has the upper hand because we were unable to confront and identify him. So if we raise suspicions then all that's going to happen is that he's going to be even more careful than he's already going to be, which will make it ever harder to catch him. If we leave it be for now, we may be able to catch him slip up. Maybe," I answered calmly.

She was still glaring at me as she seemed to at least be considering what I had just told her. Then the tired sounding voice of Sanya came through my earpiece, _"She's right, Eila."_

Eila's glare softened immediately upon hearing Sanya's voice. She sighed and said, "I know. And even if we took this to Mina or Sakamoto, they wouldn't even believe us without any proof. They'd probably chalk it up to paranoia and then punish us for coming into this tower. It is off limits after all."

"Alright. Then we're all in agreement. Keep your eyes and ears open. If you see or hear anything even remotely suspicious and in any way related to something like this, call me and call each other. Nobody acts alone. That goes for you too, Sanya. Agreed?" I asked.

Eila simply nodded and in my ear I heard Sanya say, _"Agreed."_

Before anyone else could say anything else, there were three chimes. I looked out the window and saw that the sun was slipping below the horizon and looked back to Eila.

"Dinner time," I said and left the room, heading back the way I came, Eila following a few steps behind.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4- The Sacrifice

I sat straight up in my bed at the sound of the air raid siren. It went off any time a Neuroi was within attacking range of the base, no matter what time of day or night. The fact that it was going off right now simply meant Sanya encountered something while out on her night patrol.

I wasn't letting myself get lazy now just because I was able to live in a base instead of on the run like before. I ran daily wake up drills if I had some free time and just wanted to be alone, so I can practice getting up and getting ready for action. You never know when an attack may happen, this moment a prime example, and I don't want to get caught with my pants down. Within thirty seconds of waking up I was fully dressed and already sprinting down the hall towards the hangar, rifle slung over my shoulder.

Only two people beat me there. Sakamoto was one, as she was using a large shed right next to the hangar as her quarters so she could train all day and night without disturbing anybody. And Eila, who tends to stay in the hangar late into the night as backup in case Sanya encounters trouble. I'm assuming Mina was the one who triggered the alarm as she keeps her quarters up near the command center, with a radio near her bed. If Sanya calls in for any reason, you can bet Mina will hear about it. Except, of course, for when she's using her powers to hide her transmissions.

"Samantha! Good, you're here!" Sakamoto said as I ran through the door. "I was about to send Eila up, but now that you're here we can have two witches go. Eila, you get Sanya. Samantha, you cover them. I'll bring up everybody else for reinforcements when they get here."

"Ma'am," I confirmed as I just continued to run to the armory, never slowing down as I listened to her orders. Once I had my ammo belts and sniper, I ran to my striker and jumped in to take off after Eila who had just left.

It didn't take too long to catch up to her and then it was actually pretty quick to get to Sanya. Her green antenna bars were framing her head and she was facing North. I looked that way and put on my goggles, setting for night vision. I picked up movement and saw the Neuroi moving in and out of the clouds like a shark in water.

Then I saw the shape of the Neuroi and any tension that may have been forming dissolved completely. It wasn't a particularly threatening type of Neuroi, with very easily defensible lasers and average speed. It was the type of Neuroi we always trained against when I was still in the Marines. I almost felt disappointed for having to wake up for something like this.

But then, none of the Neuroi we ever fought against in training were actually Neuroi. They were remote controlled, mass produced drones meant to replicate movements and tactics the Neuroi exhibited in battle. But based on the videos we had watched of actual battles, you could see that the training drones were nowhere near as quality as the actual thing. The flying just never actually looked natural.

Much like the flying I had watched out in the distance just now.

I looked over to Sanya. "What kind of signals are you picking up from that thing?" I asked.

Eila looked at me incredulously. "Thing?! That 'thing' is called a Neuroi and they have killed hundreds of thousands of people and destroyed just as many homes!" She practically yelled at me, tears forming in her eyes.

I wanted to respond but Sanya spoke up first. "No, Eila, it's not."

"What? What are you talking about? It's obviously a Neuroi," She yelled again, but it was clear her argument was dying now that Sanya had spoken opposite of what she believed.

"No, it's not. All Neuroi have a similar type of transmission that's alien to humans. This transmission is man-made. And it's very similar to the one I picked up last night."

They were busy facing each other as they argued so I slipped away in the darkness of the night sky and all my stealth gear, training and magic.

I flew North at breakneck speed and circled the Neuroi long before it knew I was there, then flew up behind it and grabbed onto a dorsal fin like protrusion on the back so I didn't have to use any unnecessary energy to fly. I had slung my rifle over my shoulder to fly faster and instead of drawing it back out, I instead opted to pull my knife out.

As I ran my hands over the smooth steel surface of the Neuroi, I heard Eila yelling into my ear through the earpiece, followed by a three round rifle burst blast past the fin I was holding onto. "Samantha! Where'd you go? We're engaging and bringing this sucker down!"

"Cease fire!" I yelled back, still angry I nearly got shot, tucked as far back behind the fin to avoid being hit.

"What?! Why?!" She yelled back. She also hadn't stopped firing and had hit its body twice, the fin once, just inches above where my hand was holding. I'd be really pissed if Sanya pulls out her rocket launcher.

"I hitched a ride, dammit! I'm on the Neuroi right now!" I groaned. The firing stopped immediately, much to my pleasure.

"Why the hell are you on the Neuroi?!" Now with annoyance mixed with concern.

"I'm taking it down. There's no magic dynamo like with the Neuroi, so it won't die like a Neuroi. I'm going to crash it down in the sea, so nobody gets hit by shrapnel," I explained as I finally located the panel I was looking for, all the way in the back. I started to remove the screws with my knife.

"Why bother? We can just have Sanya blow it sky high," She offered.

"Because this isn't a Neuroi acting as a Neuroi. Somebody sent this here specifically to attack and hurt us," I said through gritted teeth.

I paused to let that sink in, but I also used the pause to focus and rip the panel off the Neuroi and reveal the inside. Which didn't make things better.

There was a countdown clock that looked more like it was counting down distance than time, with a second set of numbers below it that the first set were getting closer and closer to. I followed the wires and reached through a dark gap and felt some plastic, clay like substance with a metal pin stuck in it. Bastards were sending this thing filled with plastic explosives to blow up at the base.

I sighed and said, "If we shoot it down, they'll just send more and more until they complete their mission, whatever that is. But if I do this right, then maybe I can buy us some time to do some digging."

"How are you going to do that?" I was surprised to hear Sanya's voice instead of Eila's.

'With a lot of luck,' I thought to myself. Out loud, I said, "Like this," I located the GPS chip and stabbed it with my knife and immediately felt the flight path get corrupted, flying the complete wrong way. But the coordinates continued to move closer and closer together. Perfect.

I forced the flight plain to go a decreasing angle towards the sea below and started to dig around some more. "Time to see where this baby's coming from," I said to myself.

"You two, get clear for now," I ordered.

Eila was about to respond but Sanya cut her off. "Okay. Be careful."

"Wha- Hey! Sanya!" Eila said. I looked up to see that they were retreating back towards the base.

' _Good. Go to safety. I'll be fine on my own,'_ I thought to myself. Time was running out. I figure I only had a couple of minutes until this thing blew, maybe less since the GPS was corrupted.

I kept forcing its flight path straight down to the sea. I had to manually pilot to keep it on a path that would allow it to blow where I wanted it to. Otherwise it may take off again and fly straight into the unsuspecting group of reinforcements coming in late.

The timer was now one degree and seventeen seconds away from matching up, so I started to level off the flight plan. When I got to the last few seconds, I would push it straight down and use the force to fly straight up and away from the blast.

I kept watching, waiting. Fifteen. Fourteen. Thirteen.

Twelve.

Eleven.

"Now!" I screamed aloud and pushed straight down and pulled my head and shoulders straight up, forcing my engines to start immediately.

I heard contact with water and looked down quickly to make sure it sunk. My eyes widened immediately. It didn't dive like I thought it would, its buoyancy wouldn't allow it to. Instead it skipped and started flying upwards again, not allowing me to escape its blast radius.

"SHI-" I started to yell but the explosion cut me off. I pulled my arms up to cover my face and activated my shield instinctively, but it may have been for nothing. I felt an impact in my right thigh and another in my left shoulder. I spun left with the impacts and the sudden loss of use of my right striker and started to spin violently through the air. My vision started to go black and the last thing I saw was the waves reaching up to grab me.

"SAMMI!"

"SAMANTHA!" I heard the voices in my ear, but they were slipping away. The cold numbness was already taking over, dragging me down into the depths of unconsciousness.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5- The Nightmare

"Something doesn't feel right about this," Private First Class Clair Adams said, lying face down in the dirt next to me. "Why are we running an infiltration op in Wisconsin? Its Liberion territory and the nearest Neuroi hive is in Cleveland. We're too close to a human stronghold, the Neuroi would have no shot getting close enough to attack here."

"Shut up, Clair," Corporal Bridgette Sinclaire growled from my other side. "If you had read your mission preps then you would know that this is a terrorist Neuroi sympathizer camp. These 'people' are aiding the Neuroi."

"Both of you. Be quiet," I growled as I continued to watch the patrols through my binoculars. I committed their routines to memory, then placed my binoculars in their holster on my hip.

I turned around and the other two turned with me as I pulled up an aerial snapshot of the area. "Bridgette. There's one stationary guard and two two-man patrol groups along the Eastern fence. You go through there," I ordered as I pointed at a blind spot on the map she could use to infiltrate the facility, a spot I had scouted out beforehand.

"Yes, ma'am," Bridgette replied. Even though she outranks me, I was put in charge of this mission as the ranking team member with the most experience in stealth missions. Bridgette hasn't had any experience in the field during stealth missions as she had rose to her rank as an intelligence officer.

"Your extraction will be to the North. Clair, you circle around to the North with Bridgette's striker and wait there. No matter what, you need to keep the EZ clear," I ordered, pointing to a good firing zone.

"Yes, ma'am," she responded. Then looked at me, "Where will you be?"

"I will be in the air providing both aerial and sniper cover for Bridgette for as long as I'm capable," I said evenly. I rolled up the map and put it away. "As soon as Bridgette is clear, we get our asses out of here and back to the F.O.B."

"Yes, ma'am," they both said in unison, then got up, grabbed their gear and took off for their designations; Bridgette on foot and Clair through the air, her striker as silent as mine.

I got into my striker unit, known as the Ghost Unit, and flew into a sniping position. My goggles cast a green shine over the environment, a blue halo encircling around Bridgette and Clair as they both held a transmitter marking them as friendly. Red halos circled around anybody else that enters my field of vision.

"Ghost Bravo, are you in position," I asked through our secure channel.

" _Yes, ma'am,"_ she replied.

"Ghost Charlie?"

" _Affirmative."_

"Mission is a go. On Bravo."

" _Roger,"_ they both responded simultaneously. Then Bridgette began to move.

She waited down at the fence for one patrol to pass. When they were gone I brought up my sniper and brought up the stationary guard in my scope. Inhale, hold, exhale and squeeze. The firing of my rifle was nothing more than a harsh puff of air thanks to the suppressor on my rifle.

" _Target down,"_ Bridgette's voice came through the radio.

I sucked in a harsh breath of air. Killing isn't something I actually like to do, in fact I hate it more than I hate the Neuroi. But unfortunately, I'm cursed with actually being good at killing, something I'm cursed with having to do to protect the world. "Move in."

I watched as Bridgette moved through a hole in the fence she had cut and approached where the man had been standing. I could see as she grabbed one of his legs and drag him deeper into the shadows, then toss some dirt over the blood splatter on the ground.

"You're clear, move in." I said.

She moved to a door and placed her ear up to it, listening. Once she was sure she was clear she opened it and slipped inside. Once she was inside she was essentially on her own. My rounds could penetrate the walls but with the lack of windows I had no clue what I'd be aiming at and could possible hit Bridgette by accident. There were only a few windows I could shoot through, so the onus was on Bridgette to not be caught during the mission.

Nights from the North caught my attention the same time Clair's voice came through my earpiece. _"I got two personnel carriers moving through the EP, advise."_

"Stay near the EP, but move up and see if you can see what they're carrying. Be advised, the EP is your primary objective," I ordered. My goggles weren't picking up any enemy movement inside the trucks and that bothered me. Whoever it was that they were carrying they were going to be storing them in the gymnasium to the North of the compound as that was where the trucks had pulled up to.

" _Copy. Out,"_ she said and then I watched as her halo moved locations. She should now have a great view of the carriers without capture.

I brought my attention back to Bridgette, who I could see was hiding around a corner through a window, two guards standing just down the hall.

"Ghost Bravo, after this point you will be without sniper cover. Are you ready," I asked as I brought up my scope.

" _Affirmative,"_ she said and I squeezed the trigger.

The bullet went through the window without shattering it and entered the guards skull just above his right eye. I pulled back the slide and racked a second round and readjusted my scope. The second guard had frozen at the sudden death of his partner and didn't stand a chance as my second shot was a near exact replication of the first. "Clear," I said, barely able to keep the strain out of my voice.

Bridgette stood and gave the 'okay' sign through the still intact window, then moved up the hall. She had her pistol drawn low, ready to go if she encountered trouble.

There was a strange high pitched ringing in my earpiece that stopped when I tapped it. We were in a forested area so signal issues were expected.

" _Ghost Leader, do you copy?"_ Clair's voice came through, perfectly clear.

"Negative, Ghost Charlie. Repeat," I said as she disappeared from view.

" _I got a visual on the cargo. They were transporting children, all girls. I think we may have stumbled upon a witch kidnapping ring,"_ Bridgette said.

I gained altitude and flew over to the Northern side of the building. I pulled up my scope to get a better view. There were indeed a bunch of girls down there, ranging in age and color, all being led by the guards to the gymnasium.

But none of these guards were behaving like kidnappers. For one, all the armed guards were staying back by the perimeter looking outwards, as if they were protecting rather than enforcing. And all the guards escorting the girls to the gym were women, who appeared more motherly towards the girls who were flocking to them, not trying to get away. This seemed off. I don't like this.

"Ghost Charlie, fall back to the EP, stay out of sight," I ordered.

" _Ghost Leader, come in,"_ Bridgette cut me off.

"Go."

Bridgette's voice came through my earpiece garbled so I had to focus to understand what she was saying. _"Ghost Leader, do you have a sister?"_

"Not safe for the radio, Bravo."

" _The package is secured, but I have obtained some additional information that may make this mission FUBAR. Please answer the question, Ghost Leader,"_ her transmission was still a mess but I was able to still make it out. This wasn't normal signal disruption.

I could hear a new voice coming through our transmission, someone who was giving orders. And the high pitched ringing was coming in and out, almost like a screech. The taste of copper reached my lips and something was dripping down my face. I reached up and wiped at it and my fingers came away red.

A single drop fell off my fingers down below and a few seconds later a set of lights went off around one of the women guard's heads. That set off a chain reaction as a portion of the girls down below had the same lights go off around their heads as well.

" _T-minus thirty seconds to fire mission,"_ The strange voice said through my earpiece.

"What?! Bravo! Charlie!" I yelled but my goggles lit up a warning. Someone had gotten a lock on me. "Abort! Abort! Abort the mission, RIGHT NOW! Get clear of the location!"

I could see that Clair wasn't moving. I switched to my AK-47 and flew down towards her location. But before I even got close I could see a dark puddle forming around her. Blood.

"CLAIR! NO! DAMMIT!" I screamed, unable to hold it in. I looked up to see the guards looking and aiming at my, one with a smoking barrel, all of them with horrified expressions on their faces. They were all girls too.

But my eyes slipped past all of them. To a girl standing by herself, her hazel hair pulled up in a bob, wearing a green dress. A green dress I last saw two years ago when I shipped out.

"A-Amanda?" I stammered to myself, confused. Then clarity came through as I flew straight towards her. The guards were frozen in shock as I flew straight at them, screaming like a banshee, "AMANDA!"

" _T-minus five, four, three-"_ the voice said through my earpiece. I could hear the engines of a jet approaching, but I didn't think. I just tried to focus on the girl through the blood, sweat and tears streaming down my face and cheeks _._

But I never reached her. The soundwaves of the jet passed and a missile crashed through the building. The blast waves blasted outwards, throwing her into the air towards me as my flight path was disrupted.

A figure flew out of the fire and wrapped their arms around my body, flying away. I struggled against them as I reached out and grabbed Amanda, yanking her up against my body as I was carried away myself.

Some of the guards who weren't killed in the blast were struggling to their feet. I could see they were crying and screaming in agony as well, and some even pointed their weapons up at us in the sky and started to fire. I heard a single grunt come from the person carrying me, but they didn't slow down, they just kept flying. Then I felt an impact in my back, followed by a weak and cold sensation, my vision going dark around the edges. But I refused to give in. I refused to let go.

There was a bright blue light that started to circle around me. It made me feel warm. Everything that hurt stopped hurting. It was as if it was telling me to relax and allow myself to let go. That everything would be taken care of if I just let go.

But I couldn't.

I… could… n't…

"Samantha! Please! Wake up!" the voice was familiar, but I couldn't figure out from where. And I felt a softness on my back, and a warmth all around me. This wasn't right.

"Please! Wake up!" that cry again. A picture started to form in my mind upon hearing it again. Sandy blonde hair. Hazel eyes. White, pointed cat ears.

I blinked my eyes open, trying to adjust to the bright lights and figure out where the hell I was. It was an unfamiliar room with an exposed wooden support beam running across the ceiling.

The blue light waned. "Sammi! You're awake! I'm so relieved!" Yoshika said, strain and relief warring for control of her expression.

"Sammi! Thank goodness you're alright!" Eila cried out as she dove on top of me on the bed, hugging me as if she was afraid that if she let go I might disappear. I heard a couple groans and looked to see Lynne and Sanya rousing themselves awake, having been slumped against each other asleep on a bench near the window.

"Ugh… what the hell happened?" I grunted as I tried to move my arms so I could place a hand on Eila's head to comfort her. When I felt the cool air on my shoulders and looked down to see bare skin, I realized I was probably nude right now, and flushed with mild embarrassment. The nudity wasn't my issue.

"You crashed during the false alarm," Sanya explained. Something about that didn't sit right, especially when I felt Eila tense up, but I couldn't remember exactly what had happened.

"False alarm?" I asked cautiously.

Sanya stood and approached the bed. She placed her hands on Eila's back and started to gently massage her. But she was looking directly at me. "A couple nights ago the radars picked up a strange signal and set off the alarms. You and Eila were the first ones up to back me up as I went to investigate, but something went wrong with your strike and you crashed into the see and have been out cold since," she explained. But something about how were eyes were staring directly into mine was telling me that what she said wasn't exactly true, that something else happened. Something that she wasn't comfortable disclosing while the others were in the room. Eila's reactions and the fact that Sanya mentioned her told me she was aware, but Yoshika and Lynne were standing together quietly at the end of the bed, as if waiting to be asked if there was anything they could do to help.

Sanya turned around and addressed them. "Can you two please go report to Commander Mina that she's woken up. Neither of these two are in any condition to move," she said with full sincerity.

"Right! We'll be back as fast as we can," Yoshika said as she took Lynne's hand and they ran from the room.

Once they were out of the room, Sanya turned back to me. She place one hand on Eila's back, and the other she placed into her pocket.

She pulled out a flat piece of metal, about as big as a book, and handed it to me. I flipped it over to see and engraving of the Liberion flag. And underneath that:

Property of the United States

Of Liberion Marine Corps

"I found this floating nearby as Eila pulled you out of the water. By the time the others arrived, the wreckage had already sank, nobody say anything," Sanya explained, as she went back to giving Eila a back rub. I had no choice but to comfort her as well, as she hadn't let go of me yet.

But she looked up, her eyes red with tears and fatigue. "I… I read your fortune with my tarot cards while you were out," she stammered. Sanya nodded her head when Eila looked to her. Eila let go of me with one arm and reached into her pocket to produce a card and handed it to me.

I flipped it over.

The Grim Reaper.

Death.


End file.
